Training Arab public servants

The Dubai School of Government launches first Master of Public Administration programme. Maysam Ali reports.

Thirty-five graduate students last week started their academic year at the Dubai School of Government under its new Master of Public Administration (MPA) programme. The one-year professional programme trains students for positions in governmental, quasi-governmental service and non-profit sectors.

Diverse backgrounds

Dr Tarek Yousuf, Dean of the Dubai School of Government (DSG), introduced the students to the faculty and staff during an orientation session.

Dr Mohammad Lahouel, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, told Notes that the programme gives public servants in the Arab world an opportunity to train at a highly-qualified school in the UAE. The students have worked in Prime Ministerial Offices and other governmental and educational institutions in Mauritania, Tunisia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Palestine and other Arab countries.

"The diversity of backgrounds of the students will enhance the quality of the programme," he said.

Applying theory

The programme is both theoretical and practical and involves working with the industry on a specific problem and providing a policy reform recommendation.

"Much of the training is applied and not abstract… students use modern analysis instruments to deal with issues they face in the real world," Lahouel said.

The school consulted with Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government for recommendations on how to proceed but the programme was designed in-house and the faculty are DSG-based.

Faculty plans

Khalid Al Yahya, a faculty member who taught at the US-based Arizona State University and has been a fellow at Harvard University, will be teaching a course in public administration and ethics in the public sector.

"Ethics and business practice are very important in the region, so we need to focus on the ethical challenges they face," he said.

Tarek Coury, an economist and associate professor who taught at Cambridge University and Oxford University, said students and faculty will focus on strategic issues, including institutional features in the Middle East, economic diversification and other topics pertinent to the region.

"Our mission is to focus on reality and not perception and to try to influence the direction of economics, public and industrial policy to make it more systematic," he said.

Al Yahya said he will aim to create knowledge and not only focus on teaching. "Social policy issues usually tackle the US, Europe and Asia, not the Middle East. We (the faculty members) are all Arabs who studied and taught in the US; we're seeing the region changing and we want to be part of this transformation," he said.

Dr Lahouel told Notes that DSG will be launching a Master of Public Policy within the next two years, in coordination with the University of Chicago's Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies.

What students think

Saif Al Merri, a UAE national who works in the Policy Department at the Community Development Authority, enrolled for the programme and received a scholarship from the Mohammad Bin Rashid Foundation.

"It helps me because of the administrative training I will need in my everyday work, in designing and developing social benefit policy," he said.

Al Merri was very pleased with the flexibility of the pogramme's schedule. " The evening classes are very suitable for employed managers and employees. So I will be working and studying at the same time," he added.

Awatif Al Akbari, Head of Internal Operations at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, is also enrolled in the programme.

"The DSG was very supportive and helpful during the application process," she said. "I wanted to pursue higher studies and the MPA programme was ideal for me in terms of specialisation and class hours. It provides me with the right training I need for my career in terms of managerial skills and knowledge on public administration," she said.

Commenting on other students who will be part of the programme, she said: "It's positive that there are people from all over the Arab world. This is something we are used to in Dubai; it has always been an open and multicultural city and we will have the chance to enjoy that in the programme," she said.